LAURINBURG, N.C.— The Montreat volleyball team won its second 4-set match in as many days when the Cavaliers defeated the St. Andrews University Knights in Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) play on Saturday. With the win in Laurinburg, N.C., Montreat moved back above .500 with a 5-4 (2-4 AAC) record.
 
A powerful attack in the opening frame saw the Cavs move in front of the hosts in the early going. Alex Marsh and Destini Phifer started the match with a pair of kills, while Katie Dickey added a kill of her own and Abby Maldonado contributed an ace to hand Montreat a 7-3 lead through 10 points. Kamryn Wolf and Jada Thomas joined in on the fun on offense as four different Cavaliers tallied multiple kills in the set. Dickey and Wolf each registered five kills in the frame, and Montreat racked up 16 kills and a .286 hitting percentage en route to a 25-19 first-set triumph.
 
St. Andrews (4-6, 3-3 AAC) leveled the match at one set apiece thanks to a far more efficient attack in the second frame. Two kills and a trio of errors gave the Knights the first five points and a 5-0 lead. Dickey and Wolf each notched three kills, and Lexi Wible delivered a service ace to pull Montreat with two points at 11-9; however, 13 Cav attacking errors and a .429 to -.125 hitting percentage advantage that favored the hosts allowed SAU to pull away late. St. Andrews claimed the final seven points in the set to win the frame, 25-15.
 
Four kills and an ace sparked a 5-0 spurt for the Knights, but Dickey quickly erased the deficit and knotted the score at 8-8 following a trio of kills in the third. Karly Horn accrued back-to-back kills midway through the set, and her third kill of the day built a 3-point lead for the visitors (18-15). Five Montreat miscues and a St. Andrews ace saw the hosts rattle off six consecutive points and flip momentum in their favor, but the Cavaliers had one last chance and made the most of it. Wolf and Dickey fended off four set points as they each garnered two kills, and Wolf added two service aces to cap off a 6-0 run and a 26-24 set that suddenly favored the road team.
 
Needing the frame to stay alive in the match, the Knights got off to a good start by winning eight of the initial 12 points; however, a -.111 hitting percentage coupled with the lethal attacking duo of Dickey and Wolf proved to be too much for the home side to handle. Wolf (7) and Dickey (4) combined for 11 kills in the set as the Cavs closed out the match with a 25-18 fourth-frame victory.
 
"We started off well, setting our pace and tempo for the set," said head coach Brittany Carpenter. "St. Andrews came out strong in the second set, and we made a few too many mistakes. Thankfully, we were able to reset and focus on finding holes in their defense, and our defensive specialists did a great job of getting balls up that gave us options on how to run our offense throughout the remainder of the match."
 
St. Andrews owned a very slim hitting percentage edge (.139-.137), but the Cavaliers finished the afternoon with substantially more kills (53-36) and digs (56-36) than their counterparts. Montreat also gained four points at the service line thanks to one more ace (7-6) and three fewer errors (9-6).
 
Wolf totaled a season-high 21 kills while Dickey matched her season-high with 19. Both Cavs registered more than twice as many kills as the next highest tally, and they each collected a double-double as Dickey led all Cavs with 16 digs and Wolf contributed 11 digs. Wible also hit the double-digit mark in digs with 14. Splitting the setting duties, Katie Alexander (23) and Reese Davis (19) paved the way with the match's two highest assist totals.
 
Hosting a trio of home matches next week, the Montreat volleyball team welcomes the Columbia College Koalas into McAlister Gymnasium on Tuesday. First serve is slated for 6:30 p.m. in Montreat, N.C.